The New Face of American Politics - Essay Example

The New Face of American Politics The book Barack Obama: The New Face of American Politics by Martin Dupuis and Keith Boeckelman documents and discusses the political life of Barack Obama, our first African-American President. The book starts off by documenting the mixed racial parentage, the humble beginnings of Obama in Hawaii, his academic years in Chicago, his years as a community organizer, his civil law rights legal practice, and finally his participation in American politics. The book focuses on the challenges that Obama faced as an African-American candidate and the financial difficulties of his campaign.

The book explores the role of money, ethnicity, and religion in politics and the issues that are rampant in society today. The authors also explores the charismatic and mass appeal of Obama which, they claim, transcends racial, financial, religious, and gender barriers. In essence, the book discussed how Obama’s political ideologies sustained him throughout his political career. His political path to Washington documented in the book highlighted every campaign and every opponent he faced during his campaign.

Obama’s stalwart convictions carried him through every campaign. Where his detractors focused on his failings as a candidate, he instead focused on issues like health care and protecting minority rights. The authors highlighted how his competitors self-destructed in the face of the campaign – from being involved in sex scandals to being embroiled in domestic violence. And through such controversies surrounding his competitors, he emerged as the most favorable candidate. Obama’s focus during his campaigns was not too complicated, nor was it too lavish, but his principles and his promises appealed to many Americans because it spoke to them of the American dream.

The concerns of each constituency became his concern, and this fact did not go unnoticed by the American public who were looking for the ideal candidate who could listen to them. The book is very much about the strengths of Obama. It seems to skirt on Obama’s pro-choice stance and support for stem cell research. These are some of the issues that many Americans firmly oppose. And yet, this book does not delve into the specifics of Obama’s pro-choice convictions. Just as Obama skirted over these issues during his campaign, so do the authors of this book.

Many Obama supporters emphasize that they support Obama not because he is black and not because he represents the racial minorities in America, yet this book and Obama’s supporters capitalize so much on the fact that Obama is black and is a member of the minority in order to further flatter and extol Obama’s values. The book is too much about Obama’s charisma and appeal to the masses and the minorities. It also paints an all too idealistic picture of the man while evading the issues of abortion, stem cell research, and political inexperience.

Having said that, it must be pointed out that the authors of the book provide elaborate details on how politics is played out in American society. It also adequately discusses the role of the minority in making or breaking a candidate. The authors’ skillful discussion of Obama’s appeal to the masses and to the minority illustrates how one man’s consistent conviction and devotion to his principles can charm and win over the hearts of tradition-weary Americans. The authors strip bare Obama’s political strategy and enlightened readers on how political maneuvering can aid a person into and out of tight situations.

They also provide us a glimpse of what our President went through before he won the most historic battle in the history of American politics. For the academic reader interested in politics and political science, this book is a worthy read because it provides realistic angles on politics that other political authors have not fully discussed.